A review by tapsandtomes
Batgirl/Robin: Year One by Chuck Dixon, Javier Pulido, Marcos Martín, Scott Beatty
4.0
Read my full review here: http://ilayreading.com/2015/09/30/batgirlrobin-year-one/
Robin Story: I went into this knowing only the Batman from the Christopher Nolan movies and Gotham. Robin to me was an unknown, except for the hint at the end of Dark Knight with JGL. So when I picked up this book to find out that the real Robin was a little circus kid, rather than a cop, I was pretty confused. Still, I instantly fell in love with the story, and had a pretty hard time putting this one down–even to the point where I was struggling to read my other books this week because I was so enthralled with a comic! What?! Alfred’s narration was spot on with what I expected, and “The Bat” was deliciously broody. I’ve heard a lot about Dick Grayson lately from a friend of mine (quite a lot of sexy things…another reason why I was confused at child Robin), so I’m looking forward to seeing Master Richard grow up.
Batgirl Story: Batgirl is actually why I picked this book up in the first place. I almost went with Wonder Woman for my first female superhero, but my tiny library branch didn’t have any of the origin stories, just later spinoffs, and I really like to start with the beginnings. I’m an “in order” sort of girl. Plus, I’ve been getting confused about Babs and her different reiterations, so I knew I needed to figure her out soon. At first, I was pissed because HELLO THE BOOK IS CALLED BATGIRL ROBIN YEAR ONE WHY ARE WE STARTING WITH ROBIN?! But, then, once I started reading her, it made a little bit more sense. And THEN I got scared that it was going to become this big romance between the two and she was going to be reduced to this shallow “Bruce Banner meets Natasha Romanova” plot device. GUYS BATGIRL KICKS SO MUCH ASS.
I love how she takes Batman’s overprotective “You can’t do this because you’re a naive little girl,” and questions the hell out of it. And don’t get me wrong here, I mostly understand Batman’s concerns–and when Batgirl realizes why he’s so overbearing, she does take a moment to pause and step back a bit. I just really like her “Take No Shit” attitude. When the impression is given from Batman, Robin, and her father…and pretty much everyone else…that she can’t do anything because she’s just a little girl who doesn’t meet the height requirements, Babs says “NOPE GONNA KICK SOME ASS TODAY!”
Robin Story: I went into this knowing only the Batman from the Christopher Nolan movies and Gotham. Robin to me was an unknown, except for the hint at the end of Dark Knight with JGL. So when I picked up this book to find out that the real Robin was a little circus kid, rather than a cop, I was pretty confused. Still, I instantly fell in love with the story, and had a pretty hard time putting this one down–even to the point where I was struggling to read my other books this week because I was so enthralled with a comic! What?! Alfred’s narration was spot on with what I expected, and “The Bat” was deliciously broody. I’ve heard a lot about Dick Grayson lately from a friend of mine (quite a lot of sexy things…another reason why I was confused at child Robin), so I’m looking forward to seeing Master Richard grow up.
Batgirl Story: Batgirl is actually why I picked this book up in the first place. I almost went with Wonder Woman for my first female superhero, but my tiny library branch didn’t have any of the origin stories, just later spinoffs, and I really like to start with the beginnings. I’m an “in order” sort of girl. Plus, I’ve been getting confused about Babs and her different reiterations, so I knew I needed to figure her out soon. At first, I was pissed because HELLO THE BOOK IS CALLED BATGIRL ROBIN YEAR ONE WHY ARE WE STARTING WITH ROBIN?! But, then, once I started reading her, it made a little bit more sense. And THEN I got scared that it was going to become this big romance between the two and she was going to be reduced to this shallow “Bruce Banner meets Natasha Romanova” plot device. GUYS BATGIRL KICKS SO MUCH ASS.
I love how she takes Batman’s overprotective “You can’t do this because you’re a naive little girl,” and questions the hell out of it. And don’t get me wrong here, I mostly understand Batman’s concerns–and when Batgirl realizes why he’s so overbearing, she does take a moment to pause and step back a bit. I just really like her “Take No Shit” attitude. When the impression is given from Batman, Robin, and her father…and pretty much everyone else…that she can’t do anything because she’s just a little girl who doesn’t meet the height requirements, Babs says “NOPE GONNA KICK SOME ASS TODAY!”